


Not My Future (Part 7)

by QuietDarkness



Series: Simplicity and Complexity (Harrisco) [47]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 10:20:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14235165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietDarkness/pseuds/QuietDarkness
Summary: The team prepares to take down the Stalker, once and for all. But an unforeseen turn of events changes the future yet again, landing an old ally at their feet in an impossible way that has Cisco questioning everything and leaves Harry reeling.What lies ahead has never seemed more uncertain...'Opposites don't just attract. They catch fire and burn the entire city down.'(Part 47)





	Not My Future (Part 7)

“Ramon... look at me...”

Harry's voice. That was Harry's voice... right?

“You know this isn't right! This isn't real!” 

He was in pain, Cisco could hear it. Was he hurt?

“Can't you hear them screaming, Cisco? They're so scared! He's going to kill all of them, unless you kill him first...”

That voice. Distorted. Male. But not. He recognized it. Knew it, like a ghost of a memory. 

But the crying... the kids! Their parents pleading for help! And then there was this guy he didn't know, standing before him holding some sort of device... smiling... waiting to push a button... kill them all. Cisco'd already shot him once. It didn't seem to deter him much.

The gun in his hand felt like it weighed a million pounds. But he lifted it again anyway, only slightly confused as to why he was using a gun and not his powers at this point. 

“Ramon, it's me!” 

...Harry? He sounded so desperate...

Then the man before him moved, to push the button... and Cisco had to stop him... had to. All those kids...

And without any further hesitation, Cisco pulled the trigger...

* * *

_The future is not a single line._

_It is not a path, not a set of stones to step upon in a predictable direction. It's a tree with branches and roots too numerous to count. Every wrinkle in the bark, every vein on every leaf, every subtle detail determines its shape and size and visage. Follow a different crack, run a finger along a different vein, and the future reveals itself entirely new._

_Every act, every thought, every choice no matter how subtle creates an unending chain of future possibilities that splay out like the greatest oak, branches and roots far too vast for the eye to calculate alone..._

_You call my kind Watchers._

_Among all else we can do, we see these futures, these possibilities._

_We know when one comes closer and another fades away._

_We correlate the data, make sense of the mayhem, discover the ending before the pages have been turned. A gift, yes. But for me, since having met you?_

_It has become both a gift and a burden._

_We are meant to watch, to guide when able. Allowed only to offer information, if we deem necessary. Allowed to observe, to stand on the sidelines and watch things unfold._

_But to completely interfere?_

_Like all people, all cultures, we too have rules to follow. And I have come so dangerously close to breaking certain rules with you... I have managed to skirt by, to appease the others and convince them that I have not provoked the Fates._

_But this time..._

_This time I will cross a line there will be no returning from. For you. And the fact that I am so willing, that the decision is already made within me, makes me feel... determined. And confused._

_What is it you have done to me, to pull me from my entire existence so willingly in order to save you? You and your people, your family, your team... I have watched, and I have been forever changed._

_Two futures are coming, Harrison Wells._

_Neither has a happy ending._

_And for you? I will tear apart the roots, break every branch, and destroy them both. You will not die today. Your family will not break. Your team will prevail._

_Because neither of the futures that await take into account that I am willing to do what no Watcher before me has ever done..._

_Rebel._

* * *

The warehouse looked like every other bad guy lair in history, as far as Cisco was concerned. Or at least from the outside, it did. When they all jumped out of the breach on the other side of the fence, now deactivated thanks to Felicity's amazing hacking skills, the stench of stale walls and cold air filled their lungs instantly. 

“Everyone knows what to do?” Oliver asked, in full Arrow garb. His voice thick. Barry nodded beside him. Harry stepped into view, his pulse rifle hanging low at his side. He had a peculiar look on his face as he wandered past them.

“Wait... Smoak, what do you see?” He asked, stopping. Cisco stepped up beside him, nudging him.

“What's up?” He asked, letting his gaze wander around the gated in parking lot, empty, trash littering around. The boarded windows of the warehouse, one clanking loosely in the wind. Barry and Oliver joined them. Harry shook his head, brows deepening.

 _“Nothing.”_ Felicity's voice came over their coms. _“Wow, that's... one second, cause that's seriously weird.”_

“What is?” Barry asked, looking up the length of one of the closer walls of the warehouse.

 _“The energy readings? The radiation? I'm not finding any of it... it's like it all just disappeared.”_ Felicity answered, confusion lacing her tone.

“Uh, not sure I like how that sounds...” Cisco commented, glancing to Harry who met his hidden gaze beneath his vibe glasses. There was something on Harry's expression... it unsettled Cisco. Deeply. Like Harry knew or felt something the rest of them didn't. And to prove it, Harry was suddenly moving toward the building, pulse rifle out in front of him. “Woah, hey! Wait! What about the plan?!” He blurted, reaching forward and grabbing Harry by the coat after he caught up with him. He yanked Harry to a stop and pushed his way in front of him.

“Ramon...” Harry looked down at him, lowering his rifle. “She's here.” He said softly, searching his eyes. “I can...” he swallowed, then shook his head a little and motioned to the building. “I can feel her.”

“Feel who? Mirabelle?” Cisco raised a brow in concern, aware that Oliver and Barry were watching and listening.

“The Watcher.” Harry said sternly. And Cisco let his hands fall away from Harry. He could feel her? Huh. “We need to go in. Now.” And Harry just pushed past him, without another word.

Cisco, Barry and Oliver followed a moment after. And what they saw when they were all inside was destruction. Plain and simple. It was like a bomb went off, but destroyed everything but the building itself.

“What the...” Barry mumbled. And they all began wandering the debris. It was hard to tell what anything was anymore. Whatever Mirabelle'd had in there, it was all just a lot of ash and chunks of metal now. “Felicity, are you picking up any radiation?” Barry asked, crouching near what could have been a makeshift operating table. 

_“Nothing that isn't normal, which is totally impossible. There should be some sort of residual radiation left over from the amount of whatever she had in there. But there's just not. It's like it was never there in the first place. Makes no sense.”_ Felicity's voice came back.

“Something really, really bad happened here.” Oliver stated the obvious, a hand smoothing over a strange ash pattern on a concrete wall. It looked like a lightning strike, but charred into the wall itself. “We need to be really cautious.”

“I found Mirabelle.” Harry's grated voice met everyone's ears, and they all turned toward him. His back was facing them, his rifle hung loosely at his side. They all met up with him, weeding their way through the debris. 

“Holy sh...” Cisco began, but stopped.

Harry had found her, alright. 

She was dead. And her body was... well it brought to mind images of Pompeii. Impossibly preserved but definitely roasted. She'd died in agony, too, by the look of it. Her face was contorted in a scream, hands curled into where her hair would have been. The only reason anyone knew it was her was that somehow, even in this form, her facial features stayed remarkably in tact. 

Cisco felt his mouth go dry, his heart speed up, his whole body tingle.

Part of him had wanted her dead. For all that he'd seen in that horrible future. For all she'd already done. For the lives she'd taken.

But this?

He turned away, yanking his vibe glasses off and pacing a good several feet beyond before stopping and bending over, flattening his hands to his knees. His heart hammered in his ears. His eyes burned. His chest hurt.

This was not what he wanted. At all.

“I'm sorry.” Harry's voice managed to break through, a hand flattening steadily on his back. Even through the leathers of his get-up, he could feel it. And it was more than welcome. He shook his head, straightening up, meeting Harry's steely eyed gaze.

“What happened here, man?” Cisco managed to get out. Harry shook his head. But didn't have a chance to answer.

“Guys!” Barry's suddenly worried tone met their ears. And they turned to see him throwing aside a piece of metal that could have been part of a wall, but then pausing entirely, eyes wide behind his mask. “Holy shit.” Harry, Cisco and Oliver got to his side quickly. Only to freeze in place just like he did.

“Isn't that...” Oliver breathed out. Harry and Cisco exchanged looks. And Harry's whole face was riddled with confusion, worry, pain, just before he knelt down and pulled the body before them into his lap, smoothing blond locks out of a dirty face. Harry's confusion only seemed to spread, and so did everyone else's. Cisco watched as Harry hesitated a moment, but then slipped his fingers onto a slender throat and waited.

“She's alive.” He got out.

And just like that, Cisco had this sudden and terrible feeling...

Everything was about to change...

* * *

“She's human.” Caitlin said quietly. 

Everyone was standing in the Cortex, the medlab slightly darkened. The Watcher, if they could even call her that anymore, was still unconscious on the gurney, hooked up to monitors and an IV. Harry was staring at her. In fact, he hadn't really taken his eyes off of her. Which unnerved Cisco a whole lot more than it should have.

“How is that even possible?” Iris asked, careful to keep her voice down. 

“She fell.” Harry responded, just as quiet. He turned then, dropping his arms from where they'd been crossed and faced everyone. 

“Fell...” Joe said, raising a brow.

“That's what I said.” Harry stated easily. “She chose this. To save us. She fell. It destroyed the warehouse and all of Mirabelle's tech. Killed Mirabelle. Left the Watcher... like that.” He motioned over his shoulder.

“And you know this how, exactly?” Oliver asked, crossing his arms, frowning.

“I don't know how. But the moment we stepped out of the breach, I knew what happened. And I knew she was there. I... felt it.” Harry seemed confused by his own words, slipping his fingers into his pockets and shrugging his shoulders as if he felt a chill. “I wish I had a better explanation. But until she wakes up, it's the only one we have.”

“Whatever happened, it left her weak. There aren't any injuries. But she's suffering from severe exhaustion. It's going to be some time before she's awake.” Caitlin pointed out. 

“I've gone over all the data I correlated. One moment all the readings were off the charts, and the next? It was like the radiation, the tech, all of it just blinked out.” Felicity said, typing away on her laptop.

“We can go through it some more when we get home, but we have to get back to Star City. Some troubles of our own to deal with.” Oliver said, gripping Barry's shoulder.

“Thanks for everything, man. Really. Both of you.” He said to Oliver and Felicity in turn.

“In the meantime, we have a hell of a crime scene to get to.” Joe motioned to Barry, who nodded. “How we're going to explain this one...” he let that trail off, Barry shaking his head as he and Iris followed Joe out. Felicity packed up her laptop and she and Oliver followed after saying their goodbyes. Caitlin returned to the Watcher's side, presumably to run more tests.

It left Cisco and Harry, just standing there in the Cortex, near the threshold of the medbay, just... watching. 

“Are you okay?” Cisco found himself asking, smoothing a hand onto Harry's lower back. 

“Why wouldn't I be?” Harry asked flatly, glancing sideways at him. Cisco shrugged, then ran his hand through his hair, pushing his long strands back. 

“You seem... lost.” He said gently, knowing that it would either piss off Harry or urge him to talk. Harry turned his eyes away, jaw clenching. He moved from Cisco and the medlab, then. Further into the Cortex.

“I'm struggling to understand.” He finally said, stopping sideways with his hands on hips. “None of this makes any sense.”

“Well, yeah. Dude. It's all kinds of confusing.” Cisco said, pacing easily toward him. But Harry shook his head.

“But it isn't.” Harry turned a hard stare at him. “I know why she did it.” He motioned toward the medlab. “Why she did this.”

“You... you do?” Cisco raised both brows lightly, pausing. “How?”

“She told me.” Harry sighed then. “When we exited the breach. It was... so quick. A split second, but I heard everything she said.” He began to pace, hands moving in the air as he talked. “She said there were two futures ahead and both ended with me dying. But she couldn't let that happen, so she interfered.”

“Wait... what?!” Cisco blurted, feeling momentarily stunned. “We did all this so you wouldn't die!”

“I know that, Ramon. She explained that, too, in a way...” he growled out in frustration. “That as a Watcher she could see all futures. And that all te choices we've made up to a point lead us to those two certain futures ahead. And the the only way to stop them was to do the one thing neither future had counted on.” He stopped pacing and let his hands still. “Use herself.” He shook his head. “I can't be here when she wakes up.” Harry added suddenly, looking past Cisco toward the medlab. “I can still feel her.” He whispered, swallowing lightly after, then closing his eyes and peeling off his glasses with a sigh. “Like she's in my head. Or... I'm in hers?” He sounded beyond lost. Cisco felt a nervousness flush in his chest. “I don't know what it means. But I can't be here.” When he opened his eyes, it wasn't just a look of being lost, but pain. Something about all this was hurting Harry. Cisco moved toward him slowly, reaching out and grabbing his free hand.

“Go. It's okay. I'll stay. Just... don't disappear, okay?” Cisco smiled softly, trying to offer Harry some semblance of comfort that he didn't quite feel himself. Harry nodded once, jaw clenching idly. Then lowered his lips to Cisco's, kissing him softly. Lips brushed, a sweeping dulcet press of flesh. Then Harry pulled away and vanished out the door.

For a long, far too quiet moment, Cisco just stood there, clenching his hands. Open, close. Open, close. But the tension wouldn't leave. It settled in his chest. A nervous stone seeded beneath his sternum. And it only amplified when he turned around to see Caitlin looking at him, a peculiar look on her face. “Where's Harry?” She asked softly.

“He had to go. He needed some air.” Cisco answered, only half lying. He furrowed his brows. “What's up?” Caitlin looked down at the tablet in her hands, then back at Cisco with an unreadable expression. Then cleared her throat softly.

“It's her bloodwork.” She met his gaze and swallowed. “She's... well...” she moved toward Cisco and held the tablet out for him to take. He raised a brow and pulled it out of her hand, turning it. 

“That's not possible.” Cisco scoffed, looking back up at Caitlin. He could see the accumulation of emotions brewing on her face. “It's not... she's... she's not...”

“She is.” Caitlin answered softly. “According to this... not only is she human, but she is one hundred percent... Tess Wells. Taking on her form, and then becoming human... somehow manifested her into Tess completely. I have no explanation, Cisco. But her DNA, her blood... all of her is Tess.”

And just like that, Cisco felt that rock explode into heartache. But it didn't show. Not really. He closed his eyes a moment, lowered the tablet and let out a shaken breath. When he opened his eyes again, Caitlin reached forward and gripped his shoulder warmly.

“I can tell Harry, if you want.” She said, always willing to take on the heartache. Cisco smiled sadly at her. Then shook his head.

“No. I need to. Can I take this?” He lifted the tablet slightly. And Caitlin nodded. He moved to step away, but paused. “Everything's going to change now... isn't it...” He wasn't asking, but Caitlin knew what he was trying to say. By the look on her face, he could see she'd thought it, too.

“I don't know, Cisco.” She paced a little toward him. “But what I do know for certain?” She took his hand, lifted it, ran her thumb over his wedding ring, “He loves you. Not even all this can change that. You have to trust and hold on to that. Because you know how true that is. You know who and what you are to Harry.” She squeezed his hand and he smiled, nodding, eyes a little wet.

“Yeah.” He glanced past her to the still unconscious form of the Watcher. “Yeah.” He repeated much softer. Then he pulled Caitlin in for a hug. He knew she was right. What was he really worried about? Whatever whacky connection Harry and the Watcher had, whatever reason she'd chosen to become Tess, none of that held a candle to what he and Harry had... right?

He had to believe that.

He didn't want to hate the Watcher.

And he might just end up doing that if he believed anything else...

* * *

Harry was sitting on the bench swing on the roof, tablet in hand, staring at it. His whole body looked defeated, like someone had systematically plucked all the fight right out of him. He hadn't said a word since Cisco had told him, shown him. The air up there was chill, the sky gray, which seemed to match the mood far too perfectly. Cisco would kill for a touch of sunshine right about now. Anything to lighten the air a bit. “Harry...” He urged quietly, hovering a few feet in front of him. “Talk to me, man.” Harry took in a deep breath as response, then stood, tablet still clutched in both hands. And for a moment, Cisco thought he might just say something. But instead, Harry threw the tablet. Hard. It smashed into the gravel of the roof, just before he turned and grabbed the swing, tossing it aside so quick and hard that one of the legs of it tore into an air vent. It wasn't till Harry turned and punched the wall that Cisco jumped and moved. Because Harry throwing things when he was mad was one thing, but Harry hurting himself was a whole other monster. 

“Woah! Hey!” Cisco shouted, moving into the very angry Harry, grabbing both his arms, pushing him back into the wall which covered the stairs. Harry breathed hard, eyes averted to the sky, refusing to meet Cisco's gaze. He tore his arms free, but let his hands fall and just stayed there, back planted in place, knuckles of his right hand already beginning to bleed and bruise, he'd hit the wall that hard. “Harry, damn...” Cisco stepped back a little, gave him space. 

“I don't...” Harry began, then clamped his mouth shut and shook his head, turning his fiery blue eyes to Cisco. Only when Cisco moved back into him, putting a hand on Harry's hip, did Harry begin again. “I don't know how to do this... what to do.”

“You're not supposed to.” Cisco offered, surprised by the smooth tone of his voice. Calm. He was calm. One of them had to be, right? “This isn't territory anyone's supposed to know how to navigate.” Harry closed his eyes and sighed deeply, then reached for Cisco. It was a completely instinctual movement on Harry's part. Cisco could see it, in the way his hands searched, the reach of his arms. Cisco moved in without a thought otherwise, and Harry pressed their foreheads together. “We're not alone, right? You and me. Whatever this is, however this turns out, we'll figure it out together.”

“Using my advice on me? That's cheating, Ramon.” Harry deadpanned. Cisco smiled a little. 

“It's good advice... for a change.” His smile turned into a smirk.

“Funny.” Harry lifted his head, then let it fall back onto the wall behind him, still watching Cisco. “She looks just like her.” He shook his head a little, “If I didn't know better, I'd say she was Tess. But it's more than that.” Harry lifted a hand and snatched a stray curl of Cisco's hair, smoothing it around his ear. “I can feel her.” He frowned at his own words. “It's... hard to explain.”

“Try?” Cisco asked, searching those luminous eyes, stepping back just enough to pull Harry's hurt hand into his own. The damaged knuckles looked tender. But healing. Already. Harry's ability kicking in so quick. Harry sighed through his nostrils.

“She's in me... as though her energy, her... spirit? Whatever you want to call it... is connected to mine somehow.” Harry sounded like he hated saying those words out loud. And well, Cisco didn't like hearing it. It also sounded pretty far fetched, to be honest. And it must have shown on his face, because Harry pulled his hand away. “I know how it sounds. But I also know that right now, this very moment,” He pushed away from the wall, looking to his right, where the door was, “She's waking up.”

 _'Cisco, Harry, you guys better come to the medlab.'_ Caitlin's voice piped over the intercom.

“Shit.” Cisco blurted, then met Harry's stare. 

“I don't want to go down there.” Harry admitted firmly. “I don't want to be near her, but...” Cisco slowly nodded, then reached forward and took Harry's now fully healed hand.

“But you have to.” He curled their fingers together. “We do. We need answers, and she's the one who has them.” He stepped fully into Harry. “We'll do it together. Good advice, remember?”

Harry was quiet, but nodded once. Apparently, that was enough. “Don't let go.” Harry said then, just as Cisco went to move for the door. It was so painfully, wonderfully familiar, that he had to smile warmly at Harry. And he rose up on his toes to kiss him soothingly. The effect seemed to be enough to calm Harry, or at least calm him to the point where he was able to let Cisco's hand go long enough to get down the stairs, to the elevator and back to the medlab.

Neither one of them could have prepared themselves for what they walked in on.

And the sight had Harry instantly grabbing onto Cisco's hand again.

The Watcher was in full panic mode, breathing heavy, tears streaming down her cheeks, her IV stand knocked over, a tray tossed aside, Caitlin hovering nearby as the Watcher sat crouched in the corner, eyes wide and terrified as Caitlin attempted to get her to just breathe. It wasn't till she locked eyes with Harry, however, that she stilled, relaxing completely against the wall, the floor, and simply began crying. 

“Harrison Wells... what... what is happening to me?” She sobbed out, hugging her knees to her chest. And Harry's whole body went rigid, so damn tense he could have been made of stone. And yet, impossibly, he let go of Cisco's hand and moved. As tense as Cisco knew he was, he looked calm, agile even as he approached her. He didn't stop till he was a good two feet away, then crouched very slowly before her as Caitlin backed up. 

“What do you remember?” He asked, his grated voice attempting to be calm. She kept her eyes on his, seemingly frozen in place. But then she lifted a trembling hand, fingers reaching toward him, touching his cheek, smoothing over his skin. It was Cisco's turn to get tense. Something deeply seeded in him didn't want her to be able to really touch Harry. But Harry didn't pull away. He just clenched his jaw and stayed put.

“I remember everything. But I... I don't know why I'm like you now. Why?” She sobbed, dropping her hand. “Why can I feel your skin?” She grabbed her own arm. “My own?” She began to tremble, “What is happening?!” She nearly screeched, hands going to her hair and gripping tight, pulling. Harry reached for her then, grabbing both of her wrists and pulling. The effect was the Watcher ending up falling forward, directly into him. And there she stayed, clinging to him instead of herself, crying, sobbing, shaking. And Harry... well, if he'd looked lost before, he looked even more so now. But he also looked determined. Harry didn't like it when he was confused, or not in control.

“Sshh...” He soothed, holding her firmly, sitting down and situating her more in his lap. “Just... calm down. You're safe. Whatever's happening, we'll figure it out.” He coaxed her into stilling, his words reaching her somehow. Her cries turned into soft whimpers, which turned into shaken breaths. “It's okay, Hope.” Harry continued, looking up at Cisco, holding his gaze. “It's all going to be okay.”

Somehow, Cisco had a feeling Harry was saying that to him, and not her. He'd called her Hope. The name they'd sort of given her before they'd given her a term. Was this Harry's way of saying he'd figured out a way to deal with this? To deal with the fact that his dead wife was now alive in body, but with the soul of something they had absolutely no knowledge about? By choosing to see her as what she'd been to him... a source of hope in a desolate world, in a time when he was alone and desperate and fighting for his life. 

Maybe because that's what the Watcher -Hope- felt now. Alone, desperate. Maybe they had to be her hope. After all she'd done for them, for Harry, it was the least they could do... right?

And yet...

Something in Cisco faltered, wavered at the idea. Because every time he felt like he got Harry back, something or someone else tried to take him away. And, honestly, Cisco wasn't quite sure if he could come even close to a woman who not only looked like Jesse's mother, but was connected to Harry on a spiritual level. 

In fact, that was a tug of war Cisco didn't think anyone would win.

And all Cisco could think was... where would that leave them?

**Author's Note:**

> (To be continued...)


End file.
